# Explain Los Angeles geography **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212 "2012-02-08T17:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/41 "2012-02-08T22:46:07Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > In the interest of generalizing neighborhoods: > Los Feliz & Silverlake: Here there be hipsters. More specifically Los Feliz has the single hipsters and Silverlake the couples. Atwater and Echo Park were headed that way too when I left a couple of years ago. I lived in Los Feliz in college, it was a fun place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/42 "2012-02-08T22:52:47Z")
There’s a great joke in Little Shop of Horrors that doesn’t make sense unless you know L.A. geography: _Audry: “You’re going to be another Luther Glendale!” Seymour: “Pasadena.” Audry: “Burbank.”_ Also there’s Elizabeth Taylor’s joke: _Reporter: “Miss Taylor, how do you get ahead in Hollywood?” Liz: “Take Fountain.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/43 "2012-02-08T23:02:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > “The Valley” is the San Fernando Valley, north of downtown Los Angeles. Home of cities like Van Nuys, Reseda and Sherman Oaks. This is not technically correct. Van Nuys, Reseda, and Sherman Oaks are all part of the City of Los Angeles, these are communities inside the City of LA. Burbank, Long Beach, Glendale, La Canada/Flintridge City of San Fernando are all separate cities inside or near the City of Los Angeles. The Hollywood Hills are what the HOLLYWOOD sign is mounted on. The Hollywood Hills are part of the Santa Monica Mountains which divide the Los Angeles basin from the San Fernando Valley. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/44 "2012-02-08T23:08:50Z")
This is as good a thread to ask as any… We are going to a convention at the Marriott in LAX (W Century Blvd), and on Saturday or Sunday night (say, leaving around 7) my wife wants us to drive to see the Hollywood sign… about how long would that take? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/45 "2012-02-08T23:14:26Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > It is hard to believe that when I was a kid I used to watch a TV Show called **The Real McCoys** about some farmers in the San Fernando Valley. Indeed. A lot of famous Westerns were [shot out in the Valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ranch)before it was developed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/46 "2012-02-08T23:19:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Indeed. A lot of famous Westerns were [shot out in the Valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ranch)before it was developed. I haven’t lived there since 1989, but at that time there was still a farm operating out at the end of the valley just before the Santa Susanna pass. Before the rise of portable devices you needed a set of books to navigate all the streets in LA. It’s an enormous city, and county. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/47 "2012-02-08T23:20:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This is as good a thread to ask as any… > > We are going to a convention at the Marriott in LAX (W Century Blvd), and on Saturday or Sunday night (say, leaving around 7) my wife wants us to drive to see the Hollywood sign… about how long would that take? The _Holly_wood\* Sign is not lighted (anymore, since the 30’s). Just what do you expect to see after sundown? And take binoculars. They no longer allow hikers to get close to the sign. I understand they have motion detectors and the gendarmes will show up and give you a ticket or worse. Best view it from a distance. Or buy a postcard at Hollywood and Highland and tell everyone you saw it. Didn’t used to be that way. [Here’s a pic](http://doorbell.net/tlr/signs) I took from behind the sign once (scroll down). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/48 "2012-02-08T23:28:09Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > It’s not that the different towns HATE each other, it’s just that the traffic is often so bad that it requires a major effort to leave your neighborhood. A former description of LA – “87 villages in search of a city”? > [@](#): > > However, the only time I could actually drive that route in 20 minutes would probably be at 3 in the morning. Take it from me, 20 miles at 3 in the morning takes only 15 minutes, tops. I used to return to North Hollywood from playing piano bar in El Monte at 3AM Sunday AM (bar closed at 2 then we went to breakfast at Sambo’s) and I had most (not all!) of the road to myself. Zippety-zip in my convertible with the top down doing 70MPH! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/49 "2012-02-08T23:33:55Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > We are going to a convention at the Marriott in LAX (W Century Blvd), and on Saturday or Sunday night (say, leaving around 7) my wife wants us to drive to see the Hollywood sign… about how long would that take? As \*\*Musicat \*\*says, there’s no point in going to see it at night. If you go during the day you can get a decent view of it in the distance from Sunset and Gower. Google maps says that’s about half an hour from your hotel by freeway, but I would allow more like an hour to be safe. It’s a bit of a haul, and if you’re going up to Hollywood anyway, you might as well park and wander around a bit before heading back. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/50 "2012-02-09T00:02:17Z")
Yeah, the _Holly_Wood\* Sign ain’t no big thing. Take a Universal Studios tour, go jogging around Lake Hollywood (really – 3.3 miles in an alpine environment, in the heart of LA!), drive/bike thru Griffith Park, visit La Brea Tar Pits on Wilshire, gawk at the tourists gawking at you on Hollywood & Vine, visit Griffith Park Observatory, drive on Mulholland Drive, go to Canter’s Deli on Fairfax or Art’s Deli on Ventura Blvd., visit Farmer’s Market, go to Venice Beach, get lost in the Hollywood Hills, drool at the windows in Beverly Hills, enjoy Westwood, check out Santa Monica, put on sunglasses and pretend you’re a movie star like everyone else does… ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/51 "2012-02-09T00:51:34Z")
My favorite view of the Hollywood sign (accesable to the public) is from the Griffith Observatory, which is well worth the trip on its own, but anywhere around Hollywood is far, time wise, from LAX. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/52 "2012-02-09T00:59:16Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This is as good a thread to ask as any… > > We are going to a convention at the Marriott in LAX (W Century Blvd), and on Saturday or Sunday night (say, leaving around 7) my wife wants us to drive to see the Hollywood sign… about how long would that take? Here are a couple of places you can see it from during the day anyway > **[The Best Place to View the Hollywood Sign](http://www.pachd.com/free-images/hollywood-sign.html)** > > The best places to view Hollywood Sign. > **[The Hollywood Sign](https://www.seeing-stars.com/landmarks/hollywoodsign.shtml)** > > Hollywood Landmarks: the Hollywood Sign. If you choose to look at it from Mulholland Drive, you can take the 405 North from LAX exit at Mulholland and drive east. Even if it is after dark, you will have some amazing views of both the L.A. Basin and the Valley. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/53 "2012-02-09T01:14:51Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Also there’s Elizabeth Taylor’s joke: > > _Reporter: “Miss Taylor, how do you get ahead in Hollywood?” > Liz: “Take Fountain.”_ Close, but no cigar… It was Bette Davis and the setup, reportedly by Johnny Carson, was " What’s the best way for an aspiring starlet to get into Hollywood." ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/54 "2012-02-09T01:23:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The _Holly_wood\* Sign is not lighted (anymore, since the 30’s). Just what do you expect to see after sundown? > > And take binoculars. They no longer allow hikers to get close to the sign. I understand they have motion detectors and the gendarmes will show up and give you a ticket or worse. Best view it from a distance. Or buy a postcard at Hollywood and Highland and tell everyone you saw it. > > Didn’t used to be that way. [Here’s a pic](http://doorbell.net/tlr/signs) I took from behind the sign once (scroll down). Depending on how close you mean by close. For most people, [this](http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/374641_2994933760270_1469978150_33137096_1285609012_n.jpg) is still pretty darn close. The hike up Mount Lee is pretty easy as far as hikes go, since so much of it is paved. Providing they go during the day, I think the Hollywood sign is a great sight to see. For my money, there is something special about seeing something so iconic in real life (I felt the same way when I visited Dealy Plaza in Dallas.) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/55 "2012-02-09T04:26:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This is as good a thread to ask as any… > > We are going to a convention at the Marriott in LAX (W Century Blvd), and on Saturday or Sunday night (say, leaving around 7) my wife wants us to drive to see the Hollywood sign… about how long would that take? Be careful around the residential areas below the sign. The local residents hate tourists, they’ve been trying to get rid of them for years. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/56 "2012-02-09T05:07:49Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Be careful around the residential areas below the sign. The local residents hate tourists, they’ve been trying to get rid of them for years. That would explain [this story](http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/18/local/la-me-0118-head-found-20120118). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/57 "2012-02-09T05:15:12Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > II often hear “the valley” used in a disparaging manner. Why? Because it’s the 'burbs? The valley sucks because it’s about 20° hotter than the west side, It’s smoggier than hell, and there ain’t much that 's noteworthy. Hell, when I was growing up, I thought Chatsworth was nice! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/58 "2012-02-09T07:03:45Z")
If you approach the [_Holly_Wood\* sign](http://www.hollywoodsign.org/) from a certain angle, due to the different setbacks of the letters, it spells HOLLYWODO. And the current sign was originally HOLLYWOODLAND, with hundreds of light bulbs, promoting the residential development just below many years ago. When the sign began falling apart in the 70’s, it was rebuilt without the lights and without the LAND. Hugh Hefner put up part of the money. It’s not true that he wanted it to read BUNNYWOOD. It has been a favorite spot for pranksters, who have modified the sign on occasion to read things like HOLLYWEED. I’ve heard the authorities have put a stop to this with the motion sensors and hard-ass, no-trespassing enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/59 "2012-02-09T13:11:30Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > In the middle of the Basin are two hilly bits. One of them, Culver City, is where MGM (now Sony Pictures) is. The other, Century City, is where 20th Century Fox is. Great descriptions for everything but this I found really cool. I apologize beforehand for not remember any specific titles but a number of movies have included a very distinct scenic vista shot from up high on a mountainside looking out over some very crowded but beautiful California megalopolis. It’s usually at night and the gridded pattern of lights stretch out N,S,E and West for as far as the eye can see. It looks like a popular make-out spot, a Lover’s Leap that puts all others to shame. I’ve seen that exact same view in easily a half dozen or more shows. Is that too vague or does anyone know from where it was taken and what parts of (I’m assuming L.A.) it encompasses? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/60 "2012-02-09T13:34:45Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I apologize beforehand for not remember any specific titles but a number of movies have included a very distinct scenic vista shot from up high on a mountainside looking out over some very crowded but beautiful California megalopolis. It’s usually at night and the gridded pattern of lights stretch out N,S,E and West for as far as the eye can see. It looks like a popular make-out spot, a Lover’s Leap that puts all others to shame. I’ve seen that exact same view in easily a half dozen or more shows. Is that too vague or does anyone know from where it was taken and what parts of (I’m assuming L.A.) it encompasses? Just based on that description, I’d assume it’s taken from Mulholland Drive or thereabouts up in the Hollywood Hills. By the way, I grew up in South (Central) LA and have also lived in areas like Monterey (not Park) Hills and cities like Azusa and San Dimas in The (Other) Valley. I have always hated The Valley. I hated the heat, and hated the perceived dirtiness, and I never wanted anything to do with it. So, now I live in Van Nuys. The Valley has some perks, but I still hate most of it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212.md?page=4)